A Soldier Through Time
by ariolfo101
Summary: Iroh II, a private in the United Forces, falls overboard, and is hauled up in the past, face to face with the banished Prince Zuko and his own namesake. The Crown Fire Prince struggles to get back to his own time, to find his family in these strangers, and to understand his history.
1. Chapter 1

_Here is SOLDIER THROUGH TIME, by popular request. Thanks for voting! I hope you like it, and PLEASE REVIEW!_

"Hey, there it is!" cried one of the sailors, throwing the dark green cap that identified him as a earthbender high into the air. Other sailors took up the cry, abandoning their posts to crowd the railings of the destroyer, shouting and sending blasts of their respective elements into the air. 

"Land ho!" cried a waterbender, spraying salt water up like a geyser.

"Leave, here we come!" gleefully shouted a nonbender, and the throngs of young sailors of the United Forces took up the chant.

"Leave, here we come! Leave, here we come!"

The celebratory cries reached Private Iroh at his post, doing maintenance on his own cannon, sooty from his fireblasts. Having a general revulsion to all things dirty and an obsession with keeping his uniform looking razor sharp, Iroh had put the task off for as long as he could, but now, here he was, in his rattiest clothes, scraping off residue with a stiff metal brush and wincing as each unescapable puff of soot settled on his face and clothes.

"Hey, your high fieriness, we're arriving at Yue Bay port." Iroh snapped to attention, turning to face his commander. Bumi was grinning like he did whenever he used Iroh's status to poke fun at the young private under his command.

Hurriedly looking around, Iroh hissed. "That's supposed to be a _secret_!"

"Oh, yeah, the royal incognito thing. Well, princey-boy, we're about to pull into port and…"

A war whoop, a celebratory blast of fire, and a faint coating of soot as the young private rushed for the railing were his only answers.

Disgruntled, Bumi tried to brush off the soot and muttered. "I had hoped someone of your bloodline would treat their commander with more HONOR."

Iroh tried in vain to make his way to the railing, to catch a glimpse of the port, but the crowd was as impenetrable as rock, and tossed him like a raging sea. Homesickness that had glowed like embers within him burst into rampant flames. "Hey, let me see! I've got family out there!"

Looking for another place to look out, his golden eyes lit up as they locked on the watchtower of the ship. Breaking from the crowd, Iroh raced up flight after flight of stairs, his legs burning. Pushing open the final trapdoor, he went out on the look-out station. The sea breeze was fresh and salty, and fanned the fire in his blood and in his heart. Republic City could clearly be seen from his vantage point, and he rushed to the railing to get a better view. A handful of other sailors had shared this idea, and were taking turns around the spyglass.

"I can see my wife!" shouted an earthbender, his huge fingers gripping the spyglass in excitement, "I can see her! Hey, Michi!"

"She can't hear you." Another earthbender rolled her eyes, taking her turn at the telescope. "By Bosco, this is a great spyglass. Quality glass work in the lenses. I can tell."

A waterbender woman shoved her away. "I don't care what kind of workmanship it is. As long as I can see my son and know that slimy eel-crab of an ex husband of mine hasn't kept him from seeing me come in, I'm good."

"Please, can I have a turn?" Asked Iroh politely.

"No." said the waterbender, scowling through the glass at her ex husband. Iroh's eyes narrowed as he debated using what his mother would call "aggressive negotiations" , but the male earthbender intervened. "Oh, give the kid a chance to see his folks."

Nodding his thanks to the man, Iroh took the spyglass from the angry waterbender. Swiveling the powerful lenses, he focused in on the moderate crowd awaiting on the dock, searching for the one face he knew would be there for him, the face of the one who had stood by him through his fiery teenage years, lack of a father, and his decision to fight to make the world a better place.

The scar made him recognizable.

"Grandfather!" the cry was wrenched from his lips by a joy that began to rage, lighting up his smile. He hungrily drank in the sight of his greatest father figure, a man he loved dearly, and who had loved him back through all his worst moments. The former Firelord's hair was gray, but he stood tall, his eyes scanning the horizon, eating fire flakes. He offered some to the woman with steel gray bangs seated in the wheel chair beside him. Iroh's smile dimmed as he saw how much frailer his grandmother had become during the nine months he had been at sea, before making a weak attempt to laugh it off.

"When Grandmother sees me come off the ship covered in soot, she wouldn't hug me if I had been gone a hundred years!"

"A neat freak, like you?" smiled the female earthbender, who worked near his post and was familiar with his now infamous quirk.

Iroh scowled at her. The waterbender scowled too and asked impatiently. "Done now?"

"Wait." Iroh peered back into the spyglass and watched his grandfather offer his wife some fire flakes, which she was now crunching. A hand reached out to take a few, but the former Firelady batted it away, and told the offender in no uncertain terms to go and get her own damn fireflakes. Scarcely believing his eyes, Iroh looked up into the bespectacled face of the ever busy Firelord Izumi herself, who had taken off at least two days from her duties in the capital to dress like a commoner of Republic City in order to see her son come home. When he was a troublesome teenager, there had been times when Iroh had firmly believed that his mother didn't love him very much. But as Izumi looked straight into his spyglass and pointed out his exact ship to her father, Iroh was struck by how much the Firelord did love her son.

"Alright, you've had long enough." The waterbender woman shoved Iroh out of his reverie and away from the spyglass. Suddenly deprived of the sight of his family, Iroh's loneliness blazed up.

"Please, just one last look!"

"No."

"Please!"

"NO."

Several minutes passed, and Iroh tried again.

"I…"

"I told you NO, damn it!"

"You're not the only one who misses their family!"

And with that, Iroh pushed the woman aside and madly looked for them on the dock. Focusing on his Grandfather's face, he grinned when the graying man looked directly in the lenses and smiled.

It would be a long time before he saw that face smile at him again.

"You blubbering turtle-seal!" a powerful, anger fueled blast of water for the woman's canteen pushed him like a wave to the edge of the railing. Choking on water and shock, he tried to stand, but another blast pushed him back.

It pushed him back a little too far.

Iroh could feel his stomach swoop as he tumbled headfirst over the railing and plummeted toward the deck. He could feel the air whistling past him, and he wished desperately that Avatar Aang, that kind and fun friend of his grandfather, was here to blast him upwards. 

_I will not die here. Not this close to home_. Not when his mother stopped the affairs of the country to welcome him, not when his fierce grandmother sat tall and proud in her wheel chair, no longer having the strength to walk. Not when his Grandfather, the man who had loved him like a son and more, was on that dock, smiling, smiling at him.

 _I WILL NOT DIE HERE!_

Using that determination as fuel, he kicked out a fire blast, propelling himself away from the ship, kicking and kicking again until he was over open water. He was falling like a shooting star, and he would burst on contact with the water if he didn't slow himself down. Flipping in midair, he blasted himself upward, then continued falling. The waves were getting closer. Blast, shoot up a few feet, fall. His flames were tinged blue with fear. Blast. The fire sputtered and steamed as it hit the water, but Iroh hit the waves with such force, he had no sense to sputter. He had no idea how long it had been when he opened his eyes and saw the underwater world tinged blue, the water glowing. He kicked up for air, gasping. His ship was nowhere to be seen. He yelled for help, looked for the dock, for Republic City, for his Grandfather smiling, waiting for him. He blasted flames to the sky.

An answering blast came from an approaching ship. Iroh blasted frantically. Water was not his element. Flames answered, and the ship pulled nearer. As it did, Iroh gaped. This ship did not have the symbolic features his mother had drilled into his memory. No golden dragons for figure heads. No Earth Kingdom insignia on the stern, no Water Tribe symbol on the bulking black hull. This was not his ship. This was a ship straight out of his history scrolls, out of a time of which he had heard only from his grandfather's stories.

The ship stopped, and a small riverboat steamed toward him. The fearsome masks and red and black armor shocked Iroh like lighting. His limbs when numb, and he forgot to swim.

 _I'm hallucinating. I must be on cactus juice._

"If you run him over, Jee, I _will_ ban music night."

That voice, so like his own, but harsh, abrasive.

 _It can't be._

Iroh the second, Heir to the Flaming Throne, looked into the glowering, scarred face of the banished Prince Zuko.

 _Finally, I got this typed out. Thank you to everyone who participated in my poll. I hope this first chapter lives up to your expectations. PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _-Ariolfo_


	2. Chapter 2

A Soldier Through Time CH 2

 _This is a nightmare. I hit the water and was knocked out. There's no way this is real._

The prince and a man with gray sideburns and a permanent scowl lowered a rope ladder into the water and Iroh grabbed it and hauled himself up. Flopping exhausted on the cold metal floor of the river boat, he lay there, numb with disbelief, staring up into the masked helmets and the one scarred eye. The frowning sideburns man kneeled down and touched his forehead, damp and steaming. If possible, the man frowned deeper, and turned to his superior.

"His body is firing up from stress and shock. He needs to get up and bend."

Iroh had no other inclination that to close his eyes and wake up on the right ship.

Preferably in the right time.

"Get up." That voice, so familiar and yet strange. "I order you to get up and bend."

He could feel himself being propped up and braced up in the arms of a masked firebender, then opened his bleary eyes to see the older soldier's face go stern, before he drew back his arm and drove the heel of his hand sharply into Iroh's gut.

The strike prompted an uncontrolled burst of fire from his mouth. The man struck again and again until Iroh belched blue flames, blue with fear. At this color, the soldier's arm stilled with surprise. Iroh coughed cinders and wiped his mouth of smoke.

"Feeling better, soldier?" The hand that had punched him rested gently on his shoulders.

"That was supposed to make him feel better?" The prince's voice twisted in indignation. "You just punched him in the stomach!"

The man turned sharply toward the scarred boy. "You may not know this, _your highness_ , but this is a war! Men die, men are crushed, men drown. This one was in shock. The soot shows an explosion. Boat probably blew to bits. Everyone gone. Maybe his brothers were serving with him. He's been afloat Agni knows how long. He's not going to get up and bend a perfect kata just because someone of noble blood orders him to."

The tension was palpable, and Iroh choose this moment to groan dramatically.

"Did you have to punch my innards out? I had a nice spicy dragon eye omelet this morning and let me tell you, that tastes just GREAT coming back up."

Looking around, Iroh shook his head one last time to get this vision out of his head. "Where am I?"

The grizzled soldier attempted to step forward, but the scarred boy intercepted him.

"You are aboard my riverboat. I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."

The face was younger than his own, angry, and stubborn. And it was not going to revert to his grandfather anytime soon.

"I am Lieutenant Jee." Iroh swiftly bowed.

"I thank you for administering that _bracing_ treatment."

Lt. Jee actually cracked a small smile, and grandfather looked miffed that he had bowed to his lieutenant and not him.

 _I have got to stop thinking of him like that._

"Who are you?" Iroh paused for a moment to think up a name, only to remember the best lies were founded in truth.

"Iroh."

"A good name." remarked Jee. "For a worthy namesake. Prince Zuko." Jee turned to said prince. "We will be taking him aboard?"

"Yes." The voice was cautious and tinged with irritation. "We could use another firebender. As long as he bends more and eats less that his namesake."

With that, grandfather who was not grandfather but Prince Zuko marched into the cockpit and ordered them to return to the ship.

"He could take a few pointers from you." Muttered Jee confidentially to Iroh. "And I mean in respect, not firebending."

Iroh wisely said nothing.

oOo

Iroh knew who he was named for. Vaguely. He had never been a history buff.

Something was telling him he would be regretting that soon.

Iroh knew his mother had named him for her grandfather. Which would make the first Iroh his great grandfather. But his family tree was generally messed up. He had no father, a half great aunt, and another great aunt who had gone crazy. Plus, his family had been bent on world domination until his grandfather had taken the throne. So, it wasn't so strange that Iroh didn't know exactly where his namesake fit into things.

At this point, he had no idea where HE fit into things.

They had climbed aboard ship, the metal clanging under their feet, Iroh's bare skin steaming in the air. The riverboat had been stowed away, and Iroh had followed Lt. Jee and grandfather (Prince Zuko, PRINCE ZUKO) to a small room to get him registered in the ship's log.

"Name?"

"Iroh Mei"

"Bending status?"

"Firebender."

"Age?"

Was negative seventy something years an option? Iroh went with the simpler answer.

"Nineteen."

"Next of kin?"

The room went silent, and every breath shook Iroh's frame. Kin. Next of kin. Family. His breath began to shudder and sparks flew with each pant. Family. Mother. Grandmother. Commander Bumi. Grandfather. Family. Family. His breath blazed blue, he could hear Jee shouting, see Zuko staring at him unsure of what to do.

Iroh was, for the first time in his life, completely alone.

He could feel the heat of his own breath burning him, his vision went smoky _._

 _I'm alone. All alone._

Then, the was a warm firm grip, holding him securely in a warm hug, anchoring him to the warmth. A calm voice was soothing him, giving him gentle guidance. In. Out. In. Out. Control your chi. Corral it in your belly. In. Out. In. Out. It's alright. It's alright.

"It's alright. Here." A small porcelain cup was pressed to his lips, and a steam of jasmine reached his nostrils.

"There. It is all right, young one. There are times when even the strongest of us could use a cup of tea."

Iroh followed the white beard up to smiling lips, then looked into amber eyes.

Two amber eyes, neither squinting.

They fused with his own, so alike, looking in each other's faces for someone they had lost.

"Lu…" the man softly breathed, before briskly turning to Jee. "You can send the healer back now. Some tea was all he needed."

"None." Iroh gasped out.

"No what?" asked Zuko sharply.

Looking the Prince in the face, Iroh got up from his knees.

"None. No next of kin.

Not since the explosion."

"How about I do the rest of the record? I have beautiful calligraphy. Although my friend Piando was much better." Prince Zuko handed the parchment to his uncle, who took up the brush while never breaking away from Iroh's face.

"Military experience?" gruffly asked Zuko.

"Nephew." Uncle Iroh admonished. "You cannot know a man merely by his credentials. How could you tell from my credentials that I am a tea connoisseur and fond of ladies with nice…"

Zuko went red. "I get it uncle!"

"What I am saying is you must walk a mile in his shoes to know him."

Zuko gestured to Iroh's bare soot covered feet. "Nice shoes."

"Just let me ask the questions, Nephew."

"Now…Iroh. How interesting! How will they tell us apart, both of us so handsome!"

"I think we can manage, uncle."

"Now, where are you from, Iroh, the slightly less handsome?"

"Uncle…"

"Capital City, Iroh the slightly more rotund."

"Ha, ha ha ! Good one! Now, you seemed very upset earlier, about your family."

Iroh bowed his head. "I, just discovered, I will never see them again."

The laughing old man's face became sad. "I know what it is like to lose someone you love. But sometimes, sharing memories of them makes them come alive again, if only for a moment."

So Iroh opened his heart to the living legend who bore his name.

"My father, I never knew him. Don't even know who he was. My grandfather…" Iroh's eyes flickered to the angry teen sitting across from him. "He raised me, really. Taught me everything I know. Put up with all the cinders and ashes I sent sparking, and never flinched. Loved me. Endlessly."

"Grandmother, she was the one I could talk trash about people with. I learned all my curse words from her. She wouldn't put up with any of my cinders. Smacked them right out of me."

"Sound like quite the woman." Uncle Iroh's eyes brightened as he scribbled this down.

"Uncle…" Zuko groaned.

"She's taken. She'll never admit it to anyone out loud, but once she did something really dangerous. I think she beat up a crazy firebender? All while saying she loved Grandfather more than she feared anything."

The old man slumped considerably at this. "Oh, well."

Zuko slapped his hand to his forehead. "Uncle…."

"What about your mother?"

"Mother was…" Firelord Iroh wanted to say. "Tough. Proud. She was the only person who could catch me every time I lied. That drove me crazy. I was always, angry with her. For what, I'm not really sure. I would say… " Iroh lowered his head in shame. "Horrible things. In public, during important meetings. Just say 'stupid' over and over again. Or say something like 'in dragon dung' after every sentence she said. I don't even know why. I guess, I wanted to punish her. For not having my father around. I wanted my father so much I disrespected my mother. I told her she was weak, a worthless nonbender, too strict, to smart, to serious, spent too much time following me around. Now I know, she was just…. Trying to spent time with me. Trying to show me I was more important that her work. But I was just so angry, so blind…."

"And now, it's too late. I may never see her again. I may never see any of them again. And I'm..."

"Sorry." A wrinkled hand covered his own. "You are truly sorry. And love covers a multitude of sins. You know they love you, love you even now. Death cannot stop love."

Iroh smiled at his great granduncle and grandfather and replied. "Time can't either."

 _Sorry this is short and not much substance. My boss has heaped work on me right before the holidays!_

 _I am drowning in the terror of the workplace._

 _Anyway, hope you like this. PLEASE REVIEW!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Gah! It's so late and I have a dozen plot ideas frantically breeding in my writer's mind, but I must be disciplined and update! Please review, I need every review I can get. PLEASE, HELP ME AND REVIEW!_

 _The song used as the ballad is "Nancy Mulligan" by Ed Sheeran, with a few changes to make it fit into the universe._

Iroh felt very self-conscious as he stepped toward the gathering of men clustered around a little bonfire that had been lit on the deck. He could hear the gruff voices, the rowdy laughter as a bottle of something a little stronger than tea was passed around. The stars were bright overhead through the bonfire smoke and the warm glow reddened the merry faces around the blaze. Iroh stepped out from the shadow of the watchtower into the firelight and Lt. Jee paused in tuning his pipa and stepped forward to introduce him to the men now staring at him in blatant curiosity

"This is Private Iroh Mei. He was hauled aboard after being lost at sea. He is a loyal soldier of the Fire Nation and a servant of the Firelord. Welcome aboard the ship to nowhere."

"Welcome aboard!" grunted the skinny engineer. "Until Prince Pompous Pants throws you back overboard!" There was uproarious laughter at this, until Prince Iroh stepped into the circle, cup of tea in hand.

The silence was awkward, but the elderly general sat down in his place around the fire and clapped his hands.

"Now, how about we welcome our new recruit with a song? That harmony we've been working on would be very nice…"

"Naw," interrupted the scrawny engineer, jumping to his feet. "Let's welcome him the good 'ol fashion way. Everyone gets to toss something at him and see if he can take it!"

"Oh yeah," agreed another man. "I remember my own initiation. Where should we have him stand?"

"Is this even legal?" asked Iroh incredulously, until he remembered most laws, regulation and half the justice system had been created by his mother, who wasn't even born yet.

"As long as you are gentle with him, Ganzi." Warned Iroh, but the fiery little man was already warming up.

"Take this, and that, and hiiiyeeaaahhhh!" The fire bursts were quick, short, sharp and intensely hot. Iroh dodged one, dispersed another, then grabbed control of the final one. Using a waterbending based technique, he spun the fireball around himself in an arc, then sent it soaring into the sky.

Ganzi blinked his wrinkled little eyes. "Oh, want to play flashy, don't you? I'll show you, you young whippersnapper!" The bony little maintenance man lunged for him again, but Jee stepped in his way.

"The agreement is one toss per man. You already pushed that. Don't push it further."

"Besides, it's my turn." A bearded fire bending soldier stepped forward. "I'm not going easy on you."

The man stepped back a few steps, then lobbed an enormous fireball. Steadying himself in the way he had seen his fellow earthbender soldiers do, Iroh made an abrupt slicing motion, splitting the fire ball in two and emerging from between the halves to face a stunned crowd, among which was an impressed Uncle Iroh.

The circle was quiet.

The rest of the men declined to take their turn, except the cook, who sent a wave of heated air toward the newbie, not as flashy, but just as hot and twice as hard to deflect. Iroh's brow sweated in concentration as he sent the heat out in shimmering waves. The old general stroked his beard in deep thought and Lt. Jee handed his precious pipa to a fellow soldier and faced Iroh with fists clenched. The gray firebender's stance was old, basic and as steady as the sun. He looked into the young man's eyes, then unceremoniously began bombarding him with fire. Jee bent with military precision and machine-like efficiency. But Iroh's confidence grew as his greater natural talent allowed him to easily keep up with the man. Twisting his wrists, he flicked each of Jee's flames to the side, then in a burst of excitement, swirled the flames around him in a move reminiscent of an airbending sphere, pushing the circle of fire out abruptly. Jee's sideburns were smoldering, but Iroh was untouched.

"I think I passed the test." He said, helping Jee to his feet and going to take a seat by the fire.

"Wait."

Prince Iroh, Dragon of the West, got up.

"Looks like you're not done yet." Jee smiled. "Get up there, Private Mei."

Iroh stepped forward and got into a stance in front of his namesake, bracing himself for whatever came next. But the older man did nothing at first. Just took deep, calming breaths. Then, took a sip of the steaming tea he had not let go of.

Then opened his mouth and breathed fire.

oOo

Iroh had seen this before, albeit only as a trick his grandfather had used to cheer him up. The scarred man had been horrible at jokes, even when he could remember all of them, so whenever Iroh had gotten fussy and whiny as a toddler (which was often), Grandfather's solution had been to open his mouth and breathe fire until he stopped crying. It worked, until he was a teenager. In his yelling matches with his mother, (which frustrated him to no end, because Firelord Izumi never yelled back. Only spoke irrefutable sense in calm tones), he would sometimes spit flames, out of anger or purposely to unnerve his unflappable mother.

 _(_ "Why couldn't you have been a normal woman instead of a lust crazy fool who ran around with men!" He had screamed once. "Maybe then I would have had a FATHER!" She hadn't said anything. Just looked at him quietly, through her spectacles. Didn't even brush off the sparks when they landed on her royal robe.)

The memory filled him with guilt and regret, and he almost let the billowing flames wash over him. But another memory blazed to life in his mind.

 _He had been leaving for his first tour of duty in the United Republic Navy. Grandfather was going to fly him to Republic City on Druk, the dragon, then he would board ship incognito. The Firelord had come to bid him farewell._

 _He hadn't expected her too. He hadn't expected her to have anything to do with him, expected her to write him off as the bratty, selfish, manipulative teen he had been for so long._

 _He had miscalculated._

 _He didn't apologize. Apologizing would mean acknowledging all the horrible and stupid things he had said and done. Her voice was surprisingly soft and warm, toward someone who had called her every curse word imaginable for over a decade._

" _Good luck, my fighter." She had said. "Fight with all the dragon fire in you. Fight, but never forget who you are. You are a dragon. Fight like one, and you will bring honor to your name."_

It had been the last time he had seen his mother. Looking back, he wished he could say he had hugged her and told her he loved her and how he was going to make her proud.

But all he had said was another smart comment.

" _I though you were a pacifist?"_

oOo

The breath of flame came roaring toward him and Iroh met it with a roar of his own.

His belly shook with the endless exhale. His lung were being torched and the other Iroh, although elderly, was showing no sign of ending soon. He forced every drop of air he could from his lungs, but at last there was no more. With a cough and gasp of smoke, young Iroh fell face flat to avoid the still oncoming flames from the Dragon of the West's mouth.

The steady stream continued for quite a while before Prince Iroh gave a polite cough, smoothed his beard, and sat down to thunderous applause. Private Iroh pulled himself up, lungs still sore, and was also greeted with thunderous applause.

"Who'da thunk the newbie would have held out?" grunted Ganzi, taking a swig of sake.

"You're one of the best trained benders I've seen in years, and that counts the occasional Royal Guard." Remarked Jee.

"Your techniques are quite interesting and unique. Who was your trainer?" inquired Iroh, eyes glinting strangely over his cup of tea.

"My grandfather."

Iroh's white eyebrows raised, "Should I know him? What's his name?"

The time traveler was saved from answering these questions by Jee. "Strange techniques aside, you are one powerful bender. A prodigy!"

"My grandfather never let anyone call be that."

"Well, you are. I've used that technique against Prince Zuko in training and he's wilted under it."

"My nephew has improved." Iroh remarked to the lieutenant, but Jee plowed on.

"But you, you just waved it off! If we ever need someone to take Zuko down a peg or two…"

"Or five." Mumbled Ganzi into his sake.

"… you're going to be our man to do it."

"Yeah," chimed in another man. "My bets are on you in a fight." He tossed a gambler's token.

Iroh grimaced at the thought of fighting his grandfather, even a younger, angrier version of him. "I'm really not interested in fighting anyone."

"And you should not be. We are all one big happy music loving family. Now, let's get on with music night." With that, Uncle Iroh picked up a makeshift rainmaker and looked to his younger namesake.

"Let us let the new member of our music family sing the first song." All the sailors settled in their seats and looked to the newcomer expectantly.

"I, um…"

Iroh knew song. Lots of songs. And he was a good singer too. He had even started a similar group on his own ship, singing together at lunch hour. But he was lost in the timestream and unsure which of the many songs he knew had even been written yet. Did they even sing normal songs at this point in time? Or was it all Fire Lord war propaganda?

"Um, all right, here goes.

 _Leaves on a vine, falling so slowly_

 _Like fragile, tiny shells, floating in the foam_

 _Little soldier boy, come marching home…_

From the reaction on the older Iroh's face, the future boy was sure he had messed up. He had thought the lullaby had been a safe bet. His grandfather had sung it to him, and that meant it was pretty old, right? It had to have been written by now.

" _Brave soldier boy, come marching home."_ The old general finished, his voice shaking. The eyes of the two Irohs met and there was a look of empathy and understanding, before young Iroh dissolved into fear of discovery.

"Alright, enough lullabyes, let's have a ballad." He began singing as lustily as he could.

" _I was twenty four year's old_

 _When I met the woman I would call my own_

 _Twenty-two grandkids now growing old_

 _In the house that your brother bought ya."_

Much to the time traveler's relief, the rest picked up the chorus.

" _She was Nan Zi Muu Lee Gan_

 _I was Wil Lan Shee Ran_

 _She took my name and then we were one_

 _Down by the Western border."_

Ganzi, now well warmed with sake, grabbed the cook and began to dance. Laughing with the lyrics, the

men got successively louder with each verse.

" _She and I went on the run_

 _Don't care 'bout religion._

 _I'm gonna marry the woman I love_

 _Down by the western border."_

Iroh leapt to his feet and dashed out a quick reel, heels flashing with sparks as he sang above the rest.

" _She and I went on the run_

 _Don't care 'bout religion._

 _I'm gonna marry the woman I love_

 _Down by the western border."_

"Could you drunk fools be any louder?!"

The dancing stopped as a very angry, very sleep deprived Prince Zuko stalked into music night.

 _So sorry that this is, yet again, more fluff than substantial plot. PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _I NEED REVIEWS. I am very tired._


	4. Chapter 4

Soldier Through Time Ch 4

 _Hello, everyone! Ariolfo is back. My long hiatus was due to my giving up fanfiction for the observance of Lent, to remember of what Jesus gave up for us. But it's Easter today and I have returned! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and have a lovely Easter._

 _AND PLEASE REVIEW! ; )_

The circle of merry singers went silent as a baggy eyed Prince Zuko surveyed them with disgust and rage.

"There is nothing else you drunk sluggards can find to do? The main rudder needs repairing and we'll be heading into icy waters soon. Couldn't you have been preparing the ship for the colder climate? But no."

The angry scar glowered at the circle of sullen faces.

"You have to waste you time by disturbing other people's sleep. I'm on a mission to find the Avatar, and you lazy fools better remember it. Or I will remind you."

Jee swiftly stood up. "We've worked faithfully as your crew for over two years now, Prince Zuko. I think the men deserve to have a little fun and merriment after days of hard labor in your service."

"Did I ask your opinion, Liutenant?"

The circle became dangerously quiet, the angry furrowed brows of the men defined by the firelight.

"Please Nephew." The elder Iroh pleaded. "Let an old man have his fun. Go back to sleep. We will be quieter. Or, we can play something soothing, that will calm your troubled mind."

Prince Zuko swung viciously upon him, eyes blazing over dark circles. "The only thing that is troubling my mind is your stupid piddling little song group. Disturb me again, and I will ban it!"

General Iroh looked hurt, and Jee frowned even deeper. "We'll keep singing even if you ban it!"

The other crew members muttered in agreement.

Iroh, who had been frozen in shock this entire time, quickly rose.

"Or you can join us."

Everyone stared at him like he was crazy.

Iroh faced the familiar scar, seeing neither an angry brat of a captain or his loving Grandfather.  
Iroh saw a lonely, desperate boy. A boy who reminded him very much of himself.

The crew was gaping at him now, while Grandfather, no, not Grandfather, PRINCE ZUKO, gave him an unidentifiable look.

"Come on." Iroh coaxed.

Zuko's face was indecisive. The crew shifted uncomfortably. General Iroh's eyes met Iroh II 's in a glow of hope. Ganzi snickered quietly and took a sip of his sake.

At the snicker, Zuko snapped.

Seizing the bottle of alcohol, the scarred prince smashed it into the fire pit in the center of the circle. The flames exploded, fueled by liquor and the prince's rage.

"I hate you!" he screamed at Iroh through the flames. "Leave me alone!"

And with that, Zuko stalked off to the watchtower and slammed the metal door.

Lt. Jee rose. "I'll show him. You were just trying to be nice and look how he acted! He needs to be taught a lesson."

Iroh raised a hand. "Don't worry about it. That was nothing. I've done much worse myself." He stared into the still drunkenly flickering flames. "Now I know how grandfather felt."

Ganzi snorted. "I don't believe you were ever as bad as that! The whining brat beats all!" The engineer fell silent after remembering General Iroh's presence.

"No." mused Iroh. "I wasn't that bad. I was worse."

oOo

Iroh couldn't even remember what triggered it. Anything had set him off those days, most reasons so stupid they were quickly forgotten.

If only if he could forget what he had said and done.

He had found his Grandfather painstakingly preparing a pot of tea, his stiffening fingers struggling with the delicate tea leaves. But he looked up when Iroh set the curtains on fire.

He had stalked in, alighted the drapery, then marched straight over, grabbed the teapot by the spout, and smashed it on the tea table. Shards and tea had spattered everywhere, staining the red carpet.

"You keep holding me back!" Iroh screamed in his face.

"I'm more than ready for lightning! I'm a prodigy, the greatest firebender of this age! And you, an old man, of average ability, decide I am not ready? Maybe it's because you are such a weakling you could never make lightning yourself! I hate you, I hate you and your stupid katas and dragons and tea! I hate you! If my father were here, then I'd have mastered it by now. HE wouldn't have held me back! You are a disgrace. If you're so much better than me, fight me and prove it!"

Grandfather had stared up into his face, then picked up an already filled tea cup, carefully picked the porcelain shards out of it, and handed it to him.

"What?!" his hands had filled with flames so quickly the teacup began to boil. "I said fight me!"

Grandfather had raised his scarred face. "I won't fight you."

"Fight me!" Iroh's eyes filled with angry frustrated tears, before collapsing on his knees, sobbing. "Fight me, fight me."

Grandfather had gone around the table still covered in the shattered remains of the teapot and hugged him.

"I cannot fight you. I love you, my son."

"I'm not your son. I hate you. I want my father." But he had accepted the hug just the same.

He felt Grandfather's hold tighten. "I know I'm not want you want. But it is my experience that fathers are highly overrated."

oOo

"If you girls are done with your gossip, I'd like to start my training session now."

Prince Zuko was still bleary eyed and angry from the night before, and the crew grumbled as they moved to their end of the deck for their warm up.

"Girls." Ganzi muttered. "He'd better watch who he calls 'girls'."

The crew lined up and began with military style exercises, push-ups, stretches, crunches, doing the exercises as Lt. Jee called them out.

They could hear Zuko shouting as he missed a form, his muscles stiff from skipping stretches in impatience.

"Serves him right." Smirked Ganzi as he touched his gnarly toes. The rest of the crew snickered too.

"Now," called Jee "Fire a standard blast, try to awaken and stir your chi. Begin!"

"Lt. Jee!" Iroh called.

"What is it Private Mei? Tired already?" The men laughed.

"No, I'd like to be placed away from everyone else."

"What?!" said Ganzi. "My smell too much for ya?"

More laughter.  
"Cut it out over there!" Zuko called, and the smiles changed to angry frowns.

"If I could just give him one good…!"

"Quiet Ganzi!" ordered Jee. "Why do you want to be moved, Private Mei?"

"I don't want to burn anyone."

"Standard blast is what you can produce without trying."

"I don't want to burn anyone." Iroh repeated.

The crew eyed him, remembering his performance from last night.

"Request granted." barked Jee. "All together now men."

The drill began, and Iroh was drawing stares. He tried consciously toning down his flames, which helped a little, but his natural chi was extensive, and the flames were still abnormally large and hot. He ignored it until General Iroh came over from his side of the deck to watch him.

"Can I help you with something, sir?"

"Yes." The old gentleman gave him a steady look. "You can come and train under me."

The whole ship was silent.

General Iroh turned to Jee. "Not that I have any qualms about your teaching ability, Liutenent, but I think you will agree with me that this is a special case."

"I have no objection, General."

"But I do, Uncle." Prince Zuko stood before them, arms crossed. "You are supposed to be training me, not some commoner."

"I think you will benefit from a training partner, Nephew. And Iroh Mei has talent. I would like to teach you, and learn more about you. You are a fascinating young man."

"You heard the General." Jee grinned. "Get your prodigy arse over there!" The crew laughed and went back to their drills as Iroh II followed his namesake to the other side of the deck.

oOo

After putting Iroh through his paces. Uncle Iroh smiled thoughtfully.

"You have a great amount of natural chi, an excellent, if unusual, basis, and great control of your temper."

"That was hard won, I assure you. My teacher had great patience."

Uncle Iroh smiled wider. "Then I am grateful to him, for such a pupil."

"Now Zuko, go through your basic katas. I want to see if your form has improved."

"What?!" Zuko exploded. "You are going to put me through that child's routine yet again after you just let this commoner do whatever the ashes he wanted? I want to learn something new, not waste time on something I already know."

"I'll do it with you." Iroh offered and received a scowl in return. "That is if General Iroh will allow it."

"I think it will be good for you, Nephew. And Iroh." He grinned. "No need for such formalities. You may call me Uncle."

Zuko's good eye widened and he stared at the two Irohs incredulously, before his face took on a particularly bitter scowl.

"Let the commoner call you Uncle, why don't you." He muttered, before taking his position.

"Begin."

The kata was a fairly basic one, but full of essential techniques. Iroh lost himself in the familiar rhythm of it and found himself watching his one-day grandfather. The prince bent with a scowl on his face, his blasts short, sharp, and volatile with rage and jealousy.

They finished together, Zuko breathing hard, Iroh lightly panting. Suddenly, the prince marched up to him.

"Don't get high and mighty because you were born lucky. I will work hard and be able to surpass any bender. Even the Avatar. Even you. No matter what anyone else," he glared at his uncle. "thinks."

With that, Prince Zuko picked up a towel and stomped to his cabin.

oOo

The tension lasted for about a week before trouble blazed up.

"I've had it!" Exploded Jee, stomping into the engine room. Ganzi sat taking a much need break and Iroh was stoking the fires for him.

"I'm telling you, this is it!"

"What did the disrespectful brat do this time?" Ganzi said around his pipe.

"He threatened to ban music night and told me to spread the word. I told him we didn't care if he did. Then he burned them!"

"Burned what?" asked Iroh nervously.

"All our instruments! And the General's prized Pai Sho set! For being 'objects inciting insubordination'!"

The furnaces blazed with Jee's rage, and Iroh tried to control the flames.

"The brute!" Ganzi jumped to his feet, eyes sparking.

"I tried to save the set, and then he told me if I did, it was mutiny!"

"We'll show him mutiny! We'll break out the arm bands!"

"But who?"

"I'll do it!"

"No, we need someone who'll really show him."

Both men turned their flickering eyes to Iroh, who was still calming the fires. The stare was dangerous and unnerving.

"Guys?"

Jee grabbed him. "Everybody on deck!" The two older men hustled Iroh up the narrow metal ladders to the deck, where it seemed the entire crew had gathered around the bonfire of broken instruments.

"Now, now." Uncle Iroh was saying. "I know this is very upsetting, but we should not quarrel over such little things as lost possessions."

"It's more than that." Shouted Ganzi. The men had formed a ring around Zuko and the fire. "We've had it, and we're going to settle this the right way!"

Before Iroh knew what was happening he was being shoved into the ring. Ganzi ripped off Iroh's shirt and the cook took his shoes. Jee tore two strips of cloth from the shirt and tied them around Iroh's arms.

They forced him onto his knees, bare foot and bare chested, his back to Zuko. Ganzi poured sake over him. Iroh hardly knew what was happening.

"Wait." He sputtered through the sake. "What?"

"So, this is how it is." Said Zuko.

The cook banged the lid of a cooking pot and Jee motioned for Iroh to rise. He did so dazedly, confused at the sight of Zuko, also bare foot and bare chested, facing him.

"Wait!" cried Iroh.

"Begin" called the cook.

Zuko began to circle Iroh, who turned desperately to face him.

"What's going on?" No answer. "Um, why did you burn the instruments?" Zuko advanced, Iroh pulled away. "You shouldn't have done that. They really mattered to us."

"Stop talking and fight me!" Zuko lunged, fists aflame.

Iroh cried out and dodged. "Stop! What are you doing?!"

Ganzi called. "It's an Agni Kai, you idiot!"

"What?!" Zuko lunged again. Iroh crouched, backing away.

"Oh no, no no. Not an Agni Kai. I can't fight an Agni Kai!"

"Shut up and fight already!" growled Zuko.

"This is ILLEGAL!" Iroh neatly sidestepped and Zuko stumbled past him. "Only gangs do this. Rapists, murders, thugs, THEY fight Agni Kais!"

Zuko rose angrier than ever. "Fight!"

Iroh twirled, dodged and deflected. "I'm mad at you, what you did was awful, but I don't want to KILL you!"

The circle of men drew closer. Uncle's eyes blazed with fear and readiness. Iroh backed away as far as he could.

"Please…!"

"FIGHT ME!"

"I won't." Iroh spoke with cold determination. To the shock of the crew and Zuko, Iroh knelt, staring up into the scarred face.

"I won't fight you."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Zuko said. "Fight me!"

Iroh answered by kow-towing, forehead to the ground.

"You'll have to beat on me like this. And I know you won't do that."

"I am not weak!"

"No, you're not. But you have a lot to learn." Iroh straightened up to face his grandfather. "You aren't the greatest person now. You're demanding, angry, selfish and rude. But you're still a kid, and you can change. You can change for the good. And I believe in who you will be. A great Fire Lord and an honorable man."

Zuko's flaming hand quivered, then dropped to his side.

"Get up. All of you, get back to work. We'll get new instruments at the next port. I'm going to my cabin."

AS Zuko stalked away, Iroh rose and took his shirt back from a shocked Ganzi. Eying the two strips torn out of it, he tossed it aside.

"I'm going to need a new one."

 _So, hope you liked it. I tried to put some action in, since it was kind of slow. Agni Kai's are illegal in Iroh II's time, thanks to his mother. Only gangs, like the Agni Kai Triad, still do them. That's why he doesn't know what's going on at first. Also, now Iroh I will be referred to as "Uncle" or "General Iroh" and Iroh II as "Iroh" or "Private Mei". Iroh II was a brat as a kid and that's why he relates to younger Zuko. Next Chapter: the Gaang will come in, probably!_

 _PLEASE REVIEW!_


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